"newsroom" continues right now with drew griffin in for brooke baldwin. hi, drew. i know you're a big fan of the doritos. >> that guy has putt so many pounds on me, i hate to say it. randi, great job out there. thank you so much. we've read the tabloid reports and seen the pictures over the years. michael jackson looking frail, wearing a face mask, being pushed in a wheelchair. but all of that couldn't prepare the public for the stunning piece of audio prosecutors played in court today at the trial of michael jackson's doctor. i want you to listen to this, the voice of michael jackson in a phone call recorded in the month before his death in 2009.

>> ted rowlands was inside the courtroom when that audio was played. ted, it was stunning to hear. i can't imagine what the reaction was like inside the courtroom where michael jacks jackson's family was attending. >> reporter: to be honest, drew, i was not inside the courtroom during that audio, but i think anybody who heard it was shocked. and the prosecutors used it for one reason, to show that

dr. conrad murray knew what he was doing to michael jackson, knew the drugs he was administering to michael jackson had this type of effect. they got that recording from murray's own cell phone so murray was recording jackson in if that distorted state. i mean, you could hear him just trying to slur the words. this was part of an hour and a half that the prosecution went through today in their opening statements with the jury. basically, they said murray was incompetent and that he dropped the ball in leaving jackson alone, not only by giving him the propofol and other drugs, but he left him alone unconscious. they say that was the cause of michael jackson's death. now, right now murray's tone ed chernoff, lead attorney, is addressing the attorney in his opening statements. he's trying to tell a different story to the jury. he says that it was michael jackson who accidentally killed himself trying to get propofol that murray wouldn't give him. take a listen to what chernoff told the jury just a few minutes

ago. >> the scientific evidence will show you that when dr. murray left the room michael jackson self-administered a dose of propofol that, with the lorazepam, created a perfect storm in his body that killed him instantly. >> reporter: ed chernoff is still addressing the jury here, p wrapping up his opening statements before the lunch break here in l.a. at one point, drew, dr. murray actually broke down and cried, not when david walgren the prosecutor was saying all of these things about him and showing these photos and all of that audio. it was when ed chernoff was talking about dr. murray and michael jackson's first meeting. murray looked up a little bit, then he grabbed some tissue and actually broke down a little bit as he was listening to his

attorney talk about his relationship with michael jackson. drew? >> ted, do you expect witnesses to take the stand today? >> reporter: yeah. they'll take the break here and we expect the first witness to be kenny ortega, the producer of "this is it," the guy that was responsible for working with michael jackson to launch these shows that were going to take place in london. and what prosecutors will ask ortega to do for this jury is to document jackson in his -- and his health in the days leading up to his death. and specifically they'll want him to testify about jackson's health the day that he died. ortega in the preliminary hearing said he was in fine health, great health. the prosecution will allege that it was that propofol that lethal dose that took an otherwise fairly healthy 50-year-old jackson and killed him in an instant. >> ted rowlands at the beginning of a very long trial. we'll look forward to your reports all throughout. meanwhile, we want to tell you that just ahead dr. sanjay

gupta will break down how propofol affects the body. how would you like to have this guy's job? he's repelling off a national treasure all because of the damage caused by this. that's the shaking and rattling of an earthquake under washington. we're going to talk with a national park ranger about where repairs to the monument stand. then college republicans push ahead with their bake sale where every cost is based on race. they are making a statement in california today. s they drive accident-free. so what's it going to be? eenie, meanie, miney... or more. shop less. get more. make one call to an allstate agent.

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i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. happening right now in berkeley, california, a controversial campus bake sale

we've been telling you about. you know, this is the one where the price list is based on what you pay based on ethnicity, race and gender. college republicans went ahead with the sale, lots of students turned out even though plenty are upset about it. the chancellor of uc berkeley ke condemned the bake sale in an open letter to the campus community last night. the students say they he wanted to be offensive. they say they are doing this to protest a bill that would allow race and gender to be considered in admissions. our dan simon is following this story. dan, what's been the reaction on campus? >> reporter: well, it's been a fairly peaceful thus far. we've seen a lot of protests on uc berkeley campus over the years. this is one of the more unusual protests we've seen. usually the protests involve some of the liberal organizers. in this case, you're talking about berkeley college republicans who are trying to make a bold statement here about how universities across california should accept

students. obviously there was a bill passed by senate democrats. we're waiting to see what governor jerry brown is going to do, it would roll back some of the affirmative action things. it would allow universities to accept students based on gender, race, and ethnicity. berkeley college republicans upset about that, and staged this protest with the cupcakes and prices, drew. >> so why is the school, the chancellor, coming out against what is essentially a bake sale to make a political point? >> reporter: because, you know, it's politically incorrect what these republicans are doing, and they know it. they said this was a satirical response but inherently this is racist, according to the chancellor, and let's just be honest here. the republicans, the college republicans, agree with that. they feel that this is just an appropriate way to get attention to their cause and it seems to be working. there are a lot of media people there today and they have no

plans to back down. >> and do they have plans to enforce that price list, which by the way discounts the price of cupcakes, et cetera, for minorities and women, right? >> reporter: well, i guess that's sort of the irony in all of this. they were letting people get these cupcakes for free. there were some people who were going p up who seemed to side with their cause saying, i should pay this amount for the p cupcakes. but the bottom line is, this was a media stunt and it worked. it got attention to their cause, and it's going on until 2:00 local time today. we'll see what happens in the future. the bottom line here is, what is jerry brown going to do, sign the bill or not? at this point, he has not signaled his intentions, drew. >> for those of us who don't live in california, dan, that bill, if it becomes law, would treat the admissions of minorities and women better than i guess white guys in getting

into california schools? >> reporter: it would allow admissions directors to look at one's race, ethnicity and gender in deciding whether or not they could be admitted into a public university. this is something that historically has been allowed in california. it was rolled back some years ago and now senate democrats in california looking at reviving this affirmative action-based admissions policy, drew. >> dan simon, where else, berkeley, california. thanks for that. aamanda knox, convicted murderer, being compared to jessica rabbit, that cartoon vixen? we'll explain the line here that they're drawing in court in italy today. and next, getting an up close look at the damage of the washington monument. when can tourists go back up and inside? we'll check with the people who operate this american icon.

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tourists get a rare sight of the washington monument today. engineers repelling down the side of the 555-foot-tall landmark. they're checking for more damage. the monument still off limits to tourists since the august 23rd earthquake that left deep cracks. experts say it is structurally sound, but -- >> what we need to find out and still gather data, gather information as to whether the earthquake on august 23rd resulted in any damage that we could not determine to the naked eye. we need to get up close and personal, so to speak, and to really see whether -- visually inspect with the human eye at a

close range whether there is any damage that could, over the years, accelerate into something greater. >> the monument draws millions of visitors each year and the observation deck was filled with a dozen tourists when the quake happened. forcing them to scramble out, this is video of that, plat ter, mortar raining down on them. a park ranger helped everybody get out safely. the quake damaged the elevator system. foam and caulk are being used to keep water from seeping through the cracks. nicollette williams was the ranger you saw. she joins us to describe what it was like you inside of there. "heard an interesting interview where you didn't think this was an earthquake. >> no, i did not. we've never been trained in earthquake procedures. we have been trained if we come under attack. that was my first thought the i thought we were under attack. >> you thought precisely that

somebody -- a bomb had gone off maybe? >> i thought perhaps a bomb had gone off at the base of the monument because the sound and the noise and tremors really originated from the elevator shaft. i could tell it was coming up from the base. that was my first thought. >> and your second thought was to follow, i guess, your emergency procedures, which was what? get everybody out? >> to get everybody out. it didn't matter what had actually happened or what was being done to the monument, the safest place to be was at the ground, not at the top. i started to yell out to go down the stairwell. they all followed me. >> panic? any panic? >> there was some panic initially. some people were crying out. there were some yells. once i began to yell, go down the stairs, there were other people that were also yelling that to the others. so they helped me in getting the visitors down. >> i mean, have you had a chance to look at that video and see it? and did it bring back how you felt at that moment? i imagine you, too, even though you're a brave park ranger, must have been pretty frightened.

>> i was frightened. i watched it for the first time yesterday. as i was watching it, my hands began to shake. i was, like you said, being brought back to that moment. very terrifying, even as i'm going down the stairwell there, i was having trouble staying on my feet. i was getting knocked into the railing. i kept thinking that every step cob my last step. i kont didn't know what would happen. >> how long did it take to get down? >> we were very fortunate. . 20 visitors up there, almost all of them were able to go down unassisted. one elderly woman i had to assist, it took us about ten minutes to get down. >> have you been able to get back up in there since then? >> i haven't gone back up there yet, no. >> what's that going to feel like? >> every week i get a little bit more confident so i'm sure by the time it's open and safe to go inside i'll be ready to do so. >> now has the park service added earthquake training to your training ritual there in washington, d.c.? >> you know what?

they haven't mentioned that yet, but we love training in the government so i'm sure there will be one. >> ranger nicollette williams, great job. seems like everyone was well served by you. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. i was knocked unconscious with her right in front of me on the ground. and i never saw her again. >> victims of the indiana fair stage collapse have decided to sue over their loss. and she has been called a she-devil, now jessica rabbit? can amanda knox clear her name, or will she be sentenced to life in prison? we are live from italy as her appeal is winding down. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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here is the top stories this hour. forget about a possible government shutdown for now. the feud over funding which centered on the federal emergency management agency dissolved when fema said it would not run out of money this week after all, which is the last week of the fiscal year.

the house expected to pass a short-term bipartisan spending measure thursday to keep the federal government funded through october 4th. greece is on track to get control of its debt crisis, at least that's what its prime minister says. listen to what he told german business leaders today. >> i can guarantee that greece will live up to all its commitments. i promise you we greeks will soon fight our way back to growth and prosperity after this period of pain. >> the prime minister is asking european union countries for more money, and the u.s. is pressuring europe to move fast so the greek debt crisis doesn't spread around the world. germany's parliament votes thursday on the eu rescue fund. a story we brought you last week, the chance for anyone to tell the state department what they think about a proposed pipeline to carry oil from canada's tar sands to the gulf of mexico. actress daryl hannah was among protesters arrested outside the white house this month. hearings in kansas and texas

attracted opponents concerned about the environmental impact but also supporters who say the pipeline is going to create jobs. the state department is expected to decide whether to approve the tar sands oil pipeline by the end of the year. toind ind n indiana, where same-sex partner was killed in this state fair stage collapse, joining a federal lawsuit. this lawsuit seeks to overturn indiana's $5 million cap on total damage payouts. the lawsuit will also push for same-sex partners in the case to be paid the same benefits as heterosexual couples. portraits of amanda knox emerge in a courtroom. in her murder appeal yesterday, a lawyer called her a sex loving she-devil. today a lawyer for knox's boyfriend portrayed her as a faithful young woman in love and compared her to jessica rabbit, the misunderstood femme fatale in the 1988 movie "who framed

roger rabbit." remember this clip? >> you don't know how hard it is being me, looking at a woman looking the way you do. >> i'm not bad. i'm just drawn that way. >> well, our matthew chance is covering amanda knox's appeal, which took place in pa ruse area italy. >> reporter: defense lawyers in this appeal hearing determined to reject that characterization of amanda knox, the u.s. college student, as a she-devil, as somebody with a satanic-like personality, those are the phrases used to describe her in court by the prosecution lawyers. defense lawyers today saying that she's more comparable to jessica rabbit. she's not bad. she was just drawn that way. that's the line from the movie in which jessica rabbit appeared. an indication there, reference to the way in which amanda knox has been painted by the media, fueled by the prosecution. as this wild woman who enjoyed

extreme experiences, according to one prosecution lawyer. she drank beer, she smoked marijuana, she had lots of guys come back to her apartment. defense lawyers saying nothing could be further from the truth. she was a loyal woman or is a loyal woman who was in love with her boyfriend, whose lawyers were making these comments earlier today. they were also dwelling on the evidence, particularly the dna evidence that's important because this is the only physical evidence that actually connects amanda knox and her boyfriend to the murder scene. that has now been cast aside, essentially, by independent forensic experts that were brought in to assess the police work. the defense attorneys today reminding the jury of that in the hope that they will reconsider these murder convictions and set amanda knox and her boyfriend to freedom. matthew chance, cnn, italy. >> while matthew covers the hearing, the amanda knox case is

being closely watched in her hometown of seattle, especially at knox's high school. she went to the prestigious seattle prep on a scholarship. students and teachers have held fund-raisers for her defense. that has not been without controversy. the school's headmaster has been criticized for supporting knox. kent hickey says he didn't even know her since he came to the school after she graduated, but he's come to know her through letters. amanda knox has sent them from prison and says she would be welcome back and hopefully soon. >> i think that if she doesn't win this appeal and let's say she's in prison for 26 years, i am afraid of that and i'm -- i've thought about that a lot. i'm really committed to making sure that i don't forget, in other words, when the fewuror ds down around the world if that happens, i want to make sure we continue to care for her as a person, as one of our graduates,

even if she's in that jail. but i pray to god that won't happen. >> matthew chance reports that we may learn as early as this weekend if amanda knox will go free, or if she will serve out her prison sentence on her murder conviction in italy. that was pretty quick. you just gave some of the medication. >> ten minutes he's gone from being completely awake to completely asleep. >> with the michael jackson death trial under way, many people are asking about the drug that was in his system when he died. dr. sanjay gupta describes the power of propofol. then the former king of prime time, larry king honored with a lifetime achievement award. he will join us in just a few minutes to talk emmy. ajor medic! [ beatboxing ] ♪ i help pay the doctor ♪ ain't that enough for you? ♪ there are things major medical doesn't do. aflac! pays cash so we don't have to fret. [ together ] ♪ something families should get ♪

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if you haven't heard this already today, i want you to hear how michael jackson sounded a month before he died.

>> prosecutors claim dr. conrad murray's recklessness with the drug propofol cost michael jack sofrn's life. now sanjay gupta takes you inside the operating room to show you just how quickly propofol works. >> reporter: so we are here inside the operating room with a chief of an thesologist. propofol is a medicine he uses all the time. is this right over here? >> yes. >> reporter: looks like milk of mag knees ya. >> yes. we have to monitor his ekg, we have to make sure he's breathing, see the saturation, make sure he's vent late d. >> reporter: that's all typical. >> standard of care, yes.

>> reporter: so the propofol -- >> you're going to get a little sleepy, vincent, okay? give me some good deep breaths. >> reporter: take a look at his eyes, how quickly -- >> deep breath, vincent. doing great. may feel a little burning, okay? >> narrator: ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. >> there's a reason for his heart rate increasing. see, his eyes have closed. >> reporter: his eyes closed. what else are you looking for? >> up here, he stopped breathing. this is watching his co2. he's not breathing and my wonderful -- is going to help him breathe. >> reporter: take a look. all the breathing is taking place with this bag and this mask. from that medication he wouldn't be able to breathe on his own without those things. there you can see part of the problem.

just with that much propofol there, he stopped breathing and is going to need a breathing tube. >> easy. >> reporter: what's so attractive about this medication? >> well, it's really been evident in the last ten years or so, 15 years, it's basically a quick on/quick off. that may answer why people think this is something they can do at home. because if it gets out of hand it goes away quickly. the problem is, if it gets out of hand and there's nobody there to resuscitate there, nobody could bring you back. >> reporter: that was pretty quick. you just gave some of the medication. ten minutes he's gone from completely awake to completely asleep. >> he's not breathing. i'm breathing for him. >> reporter: one thing worth pointing out this is a hospital that uses this medication thousands of times a year, but they do use this medication in nonhospital settings like outpatient clinics. the doctors here say they've never heard of it being used in a home. >> dr. sanjay gupta reporting there.

we want to point out the patient you saw going under anesthesia during the piece is doing fine. he woke up shortly after surgery, no complications. we'll bring you another live report from the michael jackson death trial in our next hour. well, there he is, the king of prime-time cable. now the rest of our industry is acknowledging what cnn already knows about him. larry king awarded for his lifetime of achievement, but what was the highlight of all of those years in suspenders at the famous desk? i'll try to get larry to -- oh, remember that one? larry, you remember that one? how could you forget it? >> can't forget that. >> we'll talk to larry king right after the break. [ woman ] you should try this instead. thank you, yeah... now she should be an allstate agent. shop less. get more. make one call to an allstate agent.

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"trending" today, he is a legend here at cnn and around the world really as 25 years of hosting cnn's "larry king live", part of broadcasting history. the man himself joins me live. last night you received a lifetime achievement award from the national academy of television. i know you won an emmy before. >> drew, i never got a lifetime achievement before. there are two theories you have on this. one, you've accomplished something and they're honoring you. and, two, you're not 26 years old. but it was a great thrill. it was a great thrill to have brian williams emcee it for me and present it. i just had -- there's no way to express how i felt. it was hard to speak. >> well, you tried.

let's hear what you did have to say when with you got that award last night. >> i really don't know what to say. i've never been at a loss for words. but i thank you, brian williams, for coming over and doing that. he's a special guy. as are all the people here because i was lucky enough to be in a business where i really didn't have to work. it was a joy every night, radio or television, to go in and meet people from all walks of life and ask them questions and get paid for it. it was unbelievable to me. >> you know, larry, so many people watching this are maybe 26 and they don't remember how long ago you started. and i don't mean that negatively, but you built a lot of this cable tv news interview

industry. is there any one moment that sticks out in your mind to be the pinnacle? >> i'm grateful in the program ted turner wrote what he thought i meant to cable television . i think the big turning point for me and maybe the network was the first gulf war certainly but i think the perot/gore debate. bill clinton wrote in the program that that debate changed nafta. here was a cable television show in which an issue was being discussed in the united states and around the world, nafta affected a lot of people, and here was a program that had for the first time ever a sitting vice president debating an ordinary citizen. al gore and ross perot going at it, and the house of representatives passed it t. was going to lose. and bill clinton wrote that, i owe you big-time, because you changed that vote. well, i didn't change it. the show changed it.

as i tried to point out last night, we don't own these cameras, drew. cnn owns the cameras. we have the privilege -- and it is a privilege -- of being on them. so if i picked a moment, that would be the moment. >> i want to ask you because we're watching the michael jackson doctor trial unfolding. i know you'd be all over that. we're watching the republicans try to get the nomination to run against president obama. i know you'd be all over that, larry. do you miss it? >> i do. i don't -- i don't miss a lot of tabloid stories. i don't miss stuff that people might consider -- in other words, nothing against her, but i don't miss the paris hiltons of the world. but i do miss the republican party debate or a major trial that really affects people or a thing like the killing of osama bin laden and not to go to work, you really want to go to work. so the feeling, i would say it's

mixed emotions. i think piers is doing a terrific job. i have no envy over that. i'm happy for what i've done in this business. but sure i miss it. i want to do other things because even though i'm kind of semiretired we do four specials a year for cnn. i'm an activist. i want to get p up and do something every day. so i can't stay inactive. i'm doing a lot of speeches, doing a comedy tour, i've been overseas, just came back from slovakia, of all people. had a wonderful time there. you know they have a television network in slovakia that is like their cnn, and they were celebrating, it's an all-news network, its tenth anniversary and they invited me over as their special guest for the day. so i keep -- it's nice getting all these honors and hearing these things. but your question, do i miss it? a lot of the times, you bet i miss it. >> well, a great award last night, and i would say it's well deserved but it seems small compared to the things you've

done. this guy is such a pleasure just to talk with. i've always enjoyed talking with you, larry, even in the makeup room. probably the best time really. >> me, too. >> appreciate it. larry king. >> a great honor. thanks so much, drew. >> take it easy. well, the "l" word actress is kicked off a plane she says for kissing her partner. was the airline discriminating? then a little boy insists he's a girl. a look at a new therapy for kids strugglie ining with their gend identity. but first this. time for the help desk where we get answers to your financial questions. with me now, john always hiemer and ma nish sha at that core, a financial expert. linda asks, she'll be 65 in february, she believes her full-time retirement aej ge is . she wants to know if she can receive spousal benefits as long as she's still employed full

time. >> i'm thrilled linda is thinking about this because figuring out when to take social security is like a puzzle steroids. it's enough to make you crazy. in this case, you need to know if you're still working there will be tax consequences. one of the things i would encourage linda and her husband to do, talk to an hourly fee based financial planner and explore the option of delaying taking social security until 70. you get an 8% annual increase if you do that a lot of people want it right away. but if they can keep the fingers off, the rewards are rich. >> kenneth in north carolina -- he observed that one of his credit cards does not report its credit limit to the three bureaus. does this negatively affect his fiek co-score? >> it can affect your score negatively, but it doesn't necessarily always. if they carry large balances on other cards, yes, it dcan impac the score. this used to be a huge problem, not so prevalent anymore.

the way around it is to open a new card that reports the credit limit, most of them do, transfer the balance, you may get zero percent for some limited time. problem solved. >> if you have a question, send us an e-mail ny time. accept it. you can't change the way banking works. just accept it, man. free ? doesn't close at five ? try nature. it's a bank. what do you want, a hug ? just accept it. hidden fees, fine print, or they'll stick it to you some other way. stay with the herd, son. accept it. just accept it. accept it. just accept it. accept it. if we miss this movie, you're dead. if you're stuck accepting banking nonsense, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense.

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she was escorting from a plane for kissing her girlfriend. best known for her role on the l word, she is in the process of filing a formal complaint against southwest airlines. haley says she and her girlfriend camilla gray weren't making out but they shared, quote, one modest kiss. then a flight attendant told thome, they say, that they needed to be aware southwest airlines was a family-oriented airline. she admits they got verbally upset with the flight attendant. the airline crew member says they did talk to the couple but it was, quote, based solely on behavior, not gender. haley tweeted she was escorted from the flight after it landed. in a statement we just got, she and her girlfriend say, we want to live in a society where if your loved one leans over to give you an innocent kiss on an airplane it's not labeled as excessive or not family oriented by a corporation and its employees. southwest airlines by the way is the official airline of the gay

and lesbian alliance against defamation. well, when you first find out you're expecting it's hard to resist buying a bunch of pink or blue, isn't it? what if your daughter doesn't relate to being a girl or your son doesn't feel like he's a boy? we found out there's help available for families like the one you're about to meet. tommy insisted from a very young age he was a tammy. cnn.c cnn.com's camera take us to the gender family conference in california this week. >> thinks that i'm -- >> i think you look like a girl. i think you are a girl. >> when you were an infant, to you, you look like a girl. >> reporter: as a parent, you want your child to be happy. you want them to be as happy as they can. and we could clearly see that thomas was a very sad boy. we've come to find out that if

you give your child the opportunity to be who they are, they know very well who they are. try to remember back when wiyou were a kick, 3 years old, 4 yearsed old, who were you? were you a boy because you looked like a boy or were you a boy because that's what you felt like you were? >> there's no age where you're too young to know your gender because it comes from within. >> the gender spectrum family conference, we've spent three days with families talking about all aspects of gender and transgender children. >> when i was, like, little, i used to have long hair. i never wanted, like, pink beads or purple beads or anything. i never liked being called "she." >> i thought my baby was a but it turned out to be, you know, he's actually a boy and no matter what, you know, i still

love him, you know, and i'm always going to love my baby. >> we do have mri evidence, brain scan evidence, to show that a child what was born in a male body for all purposes is a boy but feels herself to be a girl has the brain structure and -- of a girl. >> the mri test specifically is not helpful in making a decision whether you're a male or female when you're a child. the child's opinion about what they want to do in life, the child's feeling about what gender they are, you need to work with the child and family to figure out what should be done with this child. >> when we adopted tammy at 2, she had very, very little language because of developmental delays. >> in elementary school, was actually kindergarten she went to, and it was a center for

infant deaf and she was taught more sign language and we were taught more sign language. we went to school also there to learn sign language and so we would understand what she was saying. >> that's tammy. >> tammy. >> yeah. >> so what we've done for tammy is to put her on hormone blockers. it's only been about a month. when she's ready she will be able to decide which way she's going to go through puberty. she will have either female hormones or stop the hormone blockers and become a man. >> that's what the blocker does, is bides her time to mature, and time for us to kind of catch up with her because she runs -- she's running this. >> you make the decision on when to start hormone blockers based on the puberty of the child. very few boys undergo puberty at

age 11, most start at age 12, 13, 14. once they begin puberty you decide to start hormone blockers. >> eighth grade was the awkwardest moments. i started a new school and didn't nobody know who i really am. >> when you talk about that, when you say that people know me for me, you are you. >> what's the matter? >> so, i know parents whose children told them at the age of 3 or 4 or 5 or 8, whatever the age was, and if the parents weren't able to support their child in that gender, the common scenario is that child

disappears. >> things that i would do to my son, i was doing to my son because, you know, people in our family it was to the fact they were rejecting him and that's my baby. me being the person i am, i was torn. i was in the middle but i was torn between the two. you know. if i can get a message out there to all the parents who have kids that are -- that are transgender, either for male to female or female to male, i advise you to love your kids and to understand, try to understand them and be on their side because it's hard fighting that battle alone. >> tammy leads the way. >> yeah. >> she's the one we listen to. >> we have to allow tammy to lead the way. because we're not transgender. and i don't necessarily -- i don't necessarily think we completely understand it.

>> the american psychological association warns that it is not helpful to force a child to act in a more gender conforming way. they say that when kids are forced to conform, some spiral into depression, behavioral problems and even may have suicidal thoughts. well, wolf blitzer is here with the latest political ticker news about president obama and governor rick perry. i'd race down that hill without a helmet. i took some steep risks in my teens. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor,

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if you were waiting to see a bunch of guys jump out of the top of the washington monument and repel down the sides it's going to have to wait longer. those clouds have put it off for one day according to the park service. they're not going to repel off the side and see about those cracks today. we'll keep you posted when and it if that does happen. time for cnn politics update. wolf blitzer joining us with the latest from the cnn political ticker including governor rick perry and president obama. wolf? >> it's going to be a titanic struggle in the general election according to david axelrod, the top strategist for president obama's re-election campaign. he's been up in new hampshire meeting with influential types up there and says this is going to be a big, big fight. let me give you a quote drew of what david axelrod had to say. he said we had the wind at our back in 2008.

we don't have the wind at our backs in this election. we have the wind the our face because the american people have the wind in their faces. he says that this is going to be a big, big fight and so they're moving full speed ahead. one of the things they're doing, drew, raising as much money as they possibly can. the president on his west coast swing through washington state, california, now in colorado, he's been going to fund-raisers every step of the way, deeply involved in raising money for his re-election campaign, he's going to need a lot and raising a lot so he's been doing that. joe biden, the vice president picking up some of the slack as well, has fund-raisers for the campaign scheduled in new york and boston, elsewhere, they're all going to be doing a lot of fund-raising. they're raising a lot of money. tens of millions of dollars each quarter. not because there's a democratic challenger to the president for the democratic presidential nomination, there isn't, but they're gearing up for a general election campaign, no matter who the republican nom my turns out to be. one of the possibilities still

remains rick perry, although he did not do well in the most recent debates. he's still struggling out there, still working, been on the phone with key republicans in south carolina. he's been trying to reassure them that he is a hard core conservative. he's with them on most of the issues, even though he's gotten himself into deep trouble because he supports in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants in texas. he's not backing away from that. signed an executive order in texas mandating if you will this hpv vaccine for 11 and 12-year-old girls in the state of texas. he's got his own issues in this republican race for the white house. it's all political news. we're going to have a lot more coming up, obviously, in "the situation room" at 5:00 p.m. eastern. >> thanks for that from d.c. let's go down to the closing bell with alison kosik. the stock market has been swinging today. all seemingly in the positive, but i guess 150 points right now, that's a pullback from where it was.

>> it is. we did see the dow as high as up as high as 324 points. we're closing right now up 151. as you said the dow pairing some of its gains. what you saw mostly for the beginning of the session today was optimism that a greek bailout would happen. you know that these european debt issues have been weighing on the markets for quite some time and you saw that optimism as the dow rose to 324 points higher today, and we saw some of that fizzle out as yet another headline surfaced from the financial times saying there's divisions over the terms of this deal. so you see how quickly things can change on wall streets specially if there are certainly cracks in this deal. still, we are ending up 147 points on the dow. oil prices surged as well today, up 4% today. martin? >> alison, thanks. the german vote coming up this week will be what we're watching next on the bailout in greece. thanks, alison. now watch this.

this is it, the michael jackson death trial begins today. >> the evidence in this case will show that michael jackson literally put his life in the hands of conrad murray. >> the question at the center of dr. conrad murray's defense? how did he come by all that propofol to help the king of pop sleep? a teacher once considered a favorite by students and parents, fired over this controversial video of her allegedly smoking marijuana. >> it's wrong for people to think that they can trash someone else's life. >> who do we allow to teach our children? who do we allow to be around our children. >> how much scrutiny should a teacher be under outside the classroom? >> plus, just when you thought the coast was clear for space junk, hurdling toward earth, a new warning about stuff falling

from space. this time it's alf deutsch. >> i scream, you scream a lot of people screamed about this picture apparently, that is a really unfortunate cone costume. you're in the cnn newsroom. it's 4:00 in the east, 2:00 in denver. i'm drew griffin in for brook baldwin. we begin with jobs. millions don't have one. the president working hard to keep his. >> following up on this rousing campaign-like appearance in california yesterday, the president is in colorado today, pushing his plan to get people working. he calls its american jobs act and it includes $25 billion for modernizing public high schools across the country. it's no coincidence the president will give his pitch at

abraham lincoln high in denver and that's where we find jessica yellen. jessica, the president momentarily any minute now, any surprises we're going to see when he speaks today? >> surprises, no, i think you're going to hear the president deliver a fiery speech calling on congress to, as you've heard so many times recently, pass this jobs bill, drew. he is at, as you say, abraham lincoln school, which was built in 1960, which has had very few minor renovations. it's in a latino community with many latino students in the district that he won, so he's essentially speaking to the base, but in a state, if we can get to this, he won last time around, but he will struggle to win next time around. this is a bit of a twofer. pushing a jobs bill and no doubt pushing ahead to 2012, drew? >> you know, it doesn't seem like certainly the house controlled by republicans, but even the senate democrats are in any hurry to pass this jobs bill. any frustration there from the

aides you're talking to about the fact that the president is trying to sell this so hard on the road and back in washington, it's business as usual, more or less? >> sure, frustration, but also not a lot of surprise because there is gridlock is the way of things right now in washington and that's why they're making such an effort to put the president here, pushing the message, and let's be frank, it doesn't entirely hurt him. while it would help more to get a bill passed in the absence of getting it passed having him on the road campaign style fighting congress, does position himself against a do nothing washington in a way. and set himself up, if it has to be this way, for the president to run as a candidate who is trying to fight the ways of washington, so i think you could look ahead to that. this bill doesn't pass, i think you could look ahead to more of that kind of messaging next year drew? >> thanks, jessica yellen, with the president in colorado. we'll keep an eye on that, by the way, when the president gets

to the podium. we read the tabloid reports and saw the pictures over the years, michael jackson, looking frail, wearing a face mask, being pushed in a wheelchair at times, but all of those reports and all those pictures, couldn't prepare the public for the stunning piece of audio that prosecutors played in court today. this was the start of the trial of michael jackson's doctor. i want you to listen carefully. this is the voice of michael jackson in a phone call, recorded just a month before his death, in 2009.

>> very difficult to hear and to comprehend what was going on there in michael jackson's life. the defense kicked off its opening statement by saying the person responsible for the death of michael jackson is michael jackson. >> the scientific evidence will show you that when dr. murray left the room, michael jackson self-administered a dose of propof propofol, that with the lor raz pan created a perfect storm in his body that killed him instantly. >> prosecutors allege dr. murray injected jackson with the

anesthetic propofol and left jackson's bedside. if it's interesting and happening right now, you're about to see it in our rapid fire segment. you heard about joran van der sloot's confession to peruvian police he killed a young woman in his hotel room. now you can hear and see that confession which was broadcast by cnn affiliate america tv and other peruvian news organizations. >> okay. >>. >> translator: it is true and i'm going to ask you this and you can say yes or no. did you kill stephany tatyana? >> translator: yes. >> translator: you killed stephanie flores, right? >> yes. >> the 24-year-old was arrested last summer but wasn't until this month he was formally charged in the death of stephany flores. his taped confession happened during a police interrogation where he admitted hitting and strangling the 21-year-old woman. you may remember that van der sloot was arrested twice but never charged in the 2005 disappearance of 18-year-old

natalee holloway in aruba. that case to this day remains unsolved. a baby boy among the dead after a terrifying typhoon strikes the philippines. massive waves crashed the coast of manila as typhoon nesat landed. at least seven have been killed, three more injured and another four still missing. 64,000 people have been affected by this flooding. debris and power outages all across there. a california man pleads not guilty to child abuse and endangerment after allegedly throwing his 7-year-old son overboard in a busy harbor earlier this month. witnesses say 35-year-old sloan brooils repeatedly slapped and then threw his son overboard after he wouldn't stop crying. investigators say an argument between he and his girlfriend upset his son. he says he was just horsing around with his son. well, that horsing around faces up to six years in prison if he's convicted. good news for the apple faithful the tech company

announced a major press event for october 4th. it's been 15 long months since apple debuted the iphone 4. many speculate that this may be the launch of its replacement. the big question is if co-founder steve jobs will attend the event. jobs stepped down as ceo last month amid health concerns. want you to look closely. what do you see? it's actually a guy trying to drum up business for an ice cream store in ocala, florida, but a lot of people thought this looked like a kkk protester. 4 they've been avoiding the shop for that reason. you can see if you're just driving by and don't notice the waffle cone or sprinkles you might have the same reaction. the owners of the store say it's just an ice cream cone and they have gotten rid of that costume. actor charlie sheen settled his $100 million against warner brothers television. sheen sued the studio after he was fired from "two and a half men" earlier this year.

he claimed his contract had been broken which paid him a reported $1.2 million per episode. no one is saying how much the settlement was, but sheen's attorney tells cnn the lawsuit has been settled to the parties mutual satisfaction. the scientific evidence will show you that when dr. murray left the room, michael jackson self-administered a dose of propofol. >> this is it, the michael jackson death trial under way. the question at the center of dr. conrad murray's defense, how did he come by all that propofol for the king of pop? then would it change your opinion about a teacher if she was recorded performing sex acts and allegedly smoking pot? that's next. meineke's personal pricing on brakes.

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a fourth grade teacher fired after school officials say inappropriate photos and videos were sent to the school district and to parents. natalie santagada is seen on the videos allegedly smoking marijua marijuana. the school's student says the video also shows her engaging in sexual acts. the photos and videos were sent anonymously. we have reached out to the teacher's attorney for comment. we haven't gotten response yet. the school superintendent says she was fired because she could no longer, quote, be effective as a teacher in our district based on your personal conduct or misconduct that came to light through pictures and digital videos. the story raises questions is a teacher's personal life open for

criticism and how much privacy can a teacher expect? steve perry is here to help us with this one. steve, you hire and fire attorneys -- teachers. is this a fireable offense? would this be something you would fire a teacher for? >> absolutely not. in fact, at some point we have to let our teachers be humans. the job is hard enough. and we need to focus on the real issues in education because i don't think that this teacher's personal acts outside of the classroom with someone who she's seem to have affection toward and could trust should be used against her in her job. because we actually have an entire group of people, young people, teachers, whose life is in some way, shape, or form on videotape and this is not just a teacher, this is principals and board of education members. at some point we have to give people a right to be humans and

to be private and stay out of people's bedrooms, man. >> this video was sent to the school, apparently anonymously, but it also, steve, was sent to parents, we're told, which leads me to the question, obviously the rumors of this behavior were spreading around the school, the kids, some of them, probably learned about the activity. would this have made or could this have made her a less fec actual teacher in the eyes of the students? >> it absolutely could. there's no doubt it could have, but on the same token what we don't realize kids are far more forgiving than we give them credit. kids understand bad things happen to good people. kids are more sophisticated than simply being driven by the salaciousness of the incident. we have an opportunity now [ inaudible ] one of the things we need to do is understand that people are going to be in the schools and make decisions and not all of them will be as savory as we think they are. this sounds like she and her

partner, somebody she carried about, decided to make a video. you know, this person doesn't seem to have, and i don't know who sent the video, that's what i'm saying, someone who had access to it decided to ruin her career. think of how many teachers we could lose today if that same thing were to happen. too high of an expectation to put on a teacher. it's too high. >> i mentioned attorney when i was introducing you, but it does bring up the point does she have some kind of claim here against the school district to try to get her job back? would you expect her to file a suit here? >> i would. and this is a place i would strongly support the unions. the unions needs to jump behind this teacher. something she did outside of work, that may or may not, we don't know, only speculation, may or may not make her more effective being used against her. i don't think it is fair she or anyone be put in the situation where they simply cannot work because of a decision that she made. she is not looking to distribute the video. that's different. she did not put it upon the parents.

this was something put upon her. we have to leave room in our academic experience to bring the best and brightest to bear. that's what this is about. we have to be child advocates. i think this is about political expediency and i struggle with [ inaudible ] behind it. >> steve perry, thanks for your comments on that. i want to let everybody know, we did reach out to the teacher and her attorney and we haven't heard back yet. we would be following up on that. it's been another victim, a journalist who wrote about drug cartels on social media sites, found beheaded in mexico. a look at the group claiming responsibility next in our globe trekking report. not white collar or blue collar or no collars. we are business in america. and every day we awake to the same challenges. but at prudential we're helping companies everywhere find new solutions to manage risk, capital and employee benefits, so american business can get on with business.

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in our globe trekking, the globe -- the drug violence in mexico turning more sinister. the latest development an apparent vigilante movement forming. a video reportedly from the group, shows mask men promising to exterminate members of the drug cartel. this follows a murder of a journalist who dared to challenge the cartel. >> reporter: the decapitated corps was a clear message, dumped right in the heart of laredo across the border from texas. mexican officials said the victim was 39-year-old maria macias castro, editor in chief of one of the three local newspapers but famous for her on-line social media posts. next to the body, a handwritten warning, i'm here because of my reports and yours, for those of you who don't want to believe, this happened because of my actions and for trusting the defense ministry and the marines said the sign.

the gruesome murder is the third this month in which victims were apparently targeted for their work on-line. just last week, the bodies of a man and a woman who had been hog tied and disem bowled found hanging from a nearby bridge. the bodies have not been identified. a handwritten poster attached to the bridge threatened two blogs that follow organized crime in mexico. one of them said this is going to happen it to all of those posting funny things on the internet. you better pay attention. i'm about to get you. nuevo laredo mayor didn't want to talk to cnn about the wave of violence, but earlier this month told ksat he's working on improving security. >> it's not at the level that we want it to be. there aren't easy and fast solutions to the problem of violence. >> raphael joins me live. what's the latest on the investigations there? >> well, not much is happening because everybody's afraid. the reporters are afraid of

reporting the story because they receive threats. the prosecutors are afraid of investigating because they receive threats. and now we have news that a vigilante group has appeared in a different mexican state in the state of vera cruz promising to kill these drug traffickers. it he adds a new component to the mix of violence in mexico and makes the situation even worse. >> even the mayor won't talk to us for obvious reasons. >> exactly. >> this is in nuevo laredo, across the border from laredo, texas, afraid for his life. i spoke with his office and they told us they would talk to us and then they never got back. we tried and tried and tried. understandably, they're afraid for their safety. >> raphael romo, thanks. we want go to colorado now. the president speaking there at abraham lincoln, high school, in denver, about wrapping up his thank yous. let's listen in. >> we have a lot to do to make sure everyone in this country gets a fair shake and shot and a chance to get ahead. that's the number one thing that

i think about each and every day. your lives, your opportunities. that should be the number one thing that every public servant in washington is thinking about. there's so much that we could accomplish together if washington can finally start acting on behalf of the people. we've got to get that city to stop worrying so much about their jobses and their careers and start worrying about your jobs and your careers. and that's why i sent congress the american jobs act. now, i know it's -- i know it's kind of thick. but it boils down to two things. putting people back to work and putting more money in the pockets of working americans. [ applause ]

every single thing in the american jobs act is the kind of proposal that's been supported by democrats and republicans in the past. everything in it will be paid for. it's been two weeks since i sent it to congress. now i want it back. [ applause ] i want it back, passed, so i can sign this bill and start putting people back to work. [ applause ] i've already got the pens all ready, all lined up on my desk, ready to sign the bill, and every one of you can help make it happen by sending a message to congress, a simple message, pass this jobs bill. [ applause ] look, pass this jobs bill and right here in colorado, thousands of construction workers will have a job again. [ applause ]

this is one of the most common sense ideas out there, all over the country there are roads and bridges and schools, just like lincoln, that are in need of repair. one of the reasons we came here was this is the fastest-growing school in one of the fastest-growing school districts in colorado. [ applause ] so lincoln has been adding new ap courses and new language courses and the wonderful principal and administrators here have been making sure and the teachers here have been making sure kids have upgraded computers and learning software that's necessary to prepare all of you students for the jobs in the economy of the future. but you know what, things like science labs take money to upgrade. the science labs here at lincoln high were built decades ago. back in the '60s. i don't know if you've noticed

by science and technology has changed a little bit since the 1960s. the world has changed a little bit since the 1960s. so we need to do everything we can to prepare our kids to compete. we need to do everything we can to make sure our students can compete with any students, anywhere in the world. and every child deserves a great school and we can give it to them. [ applause ] we can rebuild our schools for the 21st century, with faster internet and smarter labs and cutting-edge technology. and that won't just create a better learning environment for students, it will create good jobs for local construction workers here in denver and all across colorado and all across the country. there are schools in colorado in need of renovation, but it's not just in this state. last week i visited a bridge in

cincinnati that connected ohio to kentucky. bridges need renovations, roads need renovations, we need to lay broadband lines in rural areas. there are construction projects like these all across this country just waiting to get started and there are millions of unemployed construction workers ready to do the job, so my question to congress is, what on earth are you waiting for? let's get to work. [ applause ] >> that's president obama speaking before a crowd at the abraham lincoln high school in colorado. continuing his tour of the country, trying to get congress back in washington to pass his jobs bill. we'll be right back after this. the michael jackson death trial about to get back under way. you name it. i've tried it. but nothing's helped me beat my back pain. then i tried this. it's salonpas. this is the relief i've been looking for. salonpas has 2 powerful pain fighting ingredients that work for up to 12 hours.

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not shareholder profits. because as a mutual, nationwide doesn't report to wall street, they report to their customers. and that's just one more reason why the earnhardt family has trusted nationwide for more than 30 years. nationwide is on your side. for a report, greece is going to overcome its economic woes. conrad murray has problems of his own as speculation lays out in the michael jackson death trial and look out, there's german space junk barreling towards earth now. time to play reporter roulette. what is the latest from athens? >> well, drew, let's call it a double barrel approach to try to restore greece's reputation in the world markets. prime minister george papandreou went to berlin to lobby for

patience from germany and financial support. his finance minister stayed closer to home to push through a controversial property tax bill. it was met with stiff resistance in the parliament square tonight. some 3,000 protesters gathered for that vote, which passed three hours ago. they were dispersed with tear gas. the finance minister told me ahead of that vote that the passage of this legislation and cutting state pensions by 20 to 40% and state salaries by another 20%, that they think they can get the next $10 billion of a european bailout plan. let's take a listen. >> i am absolutely optimistic about the investment and about the implementation of the so-called new program. always in reference to the -- >> the famous decision of july 21st refers to $160 billion

bailout package from the international monetary fund, the european union and european central bank. greece has been promising austerity now the past year and this crisis started some two years ago. over promised and not delivered, the passage of this bill tonight and the cuts in pensions and in salaries is an effort to restore confidence and it played well on wall street and it played well in european markets and why we saw them rally today. a lot of controversy tonight with some 3,000 protesters resisting the tax increases. >> john, the prime minister, obviously playing well on wall street but what about in greece? the prime minister said we're going to get through this pain together in greece. is his government going to survive the pain of this? >> well, he has elections coming up in the autumn of 2013, and it's a very tense situation on the ground. for example, we went to interview the finance minister this afternoon and during that interview, you had customs state

workers protesting outside the finance ministry. we went for a press conference, another group of state workers, tax collectors, held a press conference and they had to be pushed out after 30 minutes. it gives you a sense of how tense things are on the ground. a transport strike as well. he's trying to keep this austerity move together, but it's got a lot of resistance on the ground. they've got a recession here, drew, of 7%, record unemployment of 16%, just to give you a taste of what's going on on the ground here in athens. >> john on the ground in athens, thanks. a stunning moment today in the trial of michael jackson's doctor, conrad murray. prosecutors played a message jackson left on the doctor's phone in may of 2009. here's part of it. listen closely now.

>> hard to believe that's michael jackson. prosecutors allege murray injected jacqinjec injected jackson with propofol. ted rowlands covering the trial in los angeles. how much propofol are we talking about? >> we're talking about hundreds of bottles and the prosecution today in the opening statements, concentrated on not only the amounts of propofol that murray was getting for jackson in terms of ordering it, sending it to his girlfriend's apartment in santa monica, but they really concentrated on the last fatal dose of propofol saying the he gave it to jackson, then he left the room and that is when jackson died. take a listen. >> the evidence will also remain unchanged that conrad murray figuratively and literally abandoned michael jackson on june 25th, 2009.

he left this vulnerable man filled with volume and lorazepam and propofol with no medical monitoring equipment, no necessary resuscitative equipment. he left him there abandoned him, to fend for himself. >> now defense attorney ed chernoff who represents conrad murray right now in the -- after the lunch break is just finishing up his opening statement. he spun a little different story to the jury saying it was jackson himself who consumed that fatal dose. >> the scientific evidence will show you that when dr. murray left the room, michael jackson self-administered a dose of propofol that, with the lorazepam, created a perfect storm in his body.

that killed him instantly. >> reporter: at one point, conrad murray broke down as he listened to his defense attorney talk about his relationship with michael jackson, a very emotional day in that courtroom as you can imagine, drew. observers say the jackson family, obviously, broke down not only when they heard michael jackson's voice in that horrible tape where he is, obviously, drugged out, but also when they showed a picture of him lying on a gurney. they said katherine jackson had a tough time with that. drew? >> very tough moments indeed. ted rowlands thank you so much. we'll be watching as the trial continues on los angeles. next on reporter roulette, chad myers in the weather center. >> about more space junk. this time a 2 ton german space telescope. >> this one has more potential to hit the ground with bigger pieces because the pieces that are up there, are ceramic and glass. >> leave it to the germans. >> hey, they make great lenses

and they made a great telescope. the ceramic and glass will not disintegrate like a lot of the pieces did the uars last week. yes, believe it or not, i want to say it, 800 pound piece could come bouncing down to the ground with this one. the last one the uars was only about 300 pounds. >> one pound will probably hurt you. >> no matter what it's going to leave a mark, right? the good news, the last one we know, nasa has made a definitive answer to this. the last satellite did not make it very far off the coast of africa here on its way back around and into australia before it burned up south of australia. here's the path of this is called rosat. it is just come across the south american continent, going to be moving up over and into europe and asia and every other pass it gets closer and goes around the world and over and over. this is not expected to fall to the ground until late october or

early november, but, you know, we have 4,000 pieces that eventually have to fall to the ground. i hope this isn't like a weekly story. drew? >> i hope not either. thanks, chad. that's the reporter roulette for today. moving on here, a sorry snooki. governor chris christie, telling the "jersey shore" to kiss off. new jersey's top dog is blocking a tax credit to the show. joe johns breaks it down next in today's political pop.

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new jersey governor chris christie got rid of a reality show tax credit situation yesterday the white house gets their square states confused. joe johns, here with the latest. first, joe, you chase a lot of bad government spending. i can't believe that this show was getting a tax subsidy. yeah. you're right. especially at a time where state governments are up against very tough budgets and this is something that really got ridiculed. it was called the snooki tax credit, even they to be clear, it's not any direct benefit to snooki. this is a $420,000 tax credit that was already to go to a company called 495 productions. the producers of the "jersey shore" television program that snooki appears on. governor chris christie decided he wasn't going to stand for it.

the governor has been an outspoken critic of this program, and it's important to say, a budget hawk as well. on the one hand christi said he's not interested in policing the content of the programs like "jersey shore," not censorship, in other words, but on the other hand, he said, he had to ensure that taxpayers are not footing $420,000 bill for a project that does nothing more than perpetuate misconceptions about the state of new jersey ath and its citizens, his words. meanwhile, by the way, christi continues to be mentioned as a possible presidential candidate. though he says he's not running. he happens to be giving a speech tonight at the ronald reagan library in california. people will keep asking that question. >> people keep pushing him to jump into the race. we noticed there was a geographical oops moment for the white house press office? >> yeah. this is one of those things that just makes you cringe when the president travels, media people are issued credentials, right?

for this trip, the press passes issued for the president's west coast swing have a glaring mistake. there's a little map on the credentials that's supposed to show the states the president's traveling to. he's traveling to the states of california, washington state, colorado, but here is the big mistake. instead of highlighting the state of colorado, somehow or other they highlighted the state of wyoming. something you would expect the white house to get right. after all, he is the president of the united states. i did ask the white house if they are going to reprint the press passes, but haven't heard back so far, drew? >> maybe they could fill him in on the press plane. he just gave that speech out in colorado which should have been in white, obviously, there. hey, a little bragging moment for you guys last night. you were there as cnn won two emmys. >> yeah. i was part of the anderson cooper 360 team in haiti covering the aftermath of the earthquake and last night the

team awarded two emmys for that coverage. the team did an incredible job, horrific story, and be drew, you've won three emmys on your own, is that about right? >> that's right. >> yeah. all right. so it's a great honor to be associated with any project like this, especially a successful one. i think larry king, who was on the show just a little while ago, said it about right. i mean, we who do this for a living, we don't own these cameras. cnn owns the cameras and it's a privilege to just go out and do what you do, even in the worst of circumstances. so, few candid shots from the camera phone. >> absolutely. well well deserved, joe. we love your work and that was incredibly, poignant, sad reporting done from haiti in the aftermath of that incredible earthquake that they had. joe johns, with political pop and snaps from his emmy wins last night. coming up, wolf blitzer with the latest from washington, straight after his break.

first today's top five list. who are the highest paid bankers in the country? at number five, ceo whose salary skyrocketed at 143%, in one year. richard davis of u.s. bank corp. he takes home about $16 million. number four, ken chenault. doesn't leave home without it. his $16.3 million from american express. number three, john stumpf of wells fargo, $17.6 million. this is for a year, folks. we'll reveal the top two after the break.

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continuing with our list now, the second highest paid bank ceo in the country is robert kelly, whose salary jumped 73% in one year. he earns $19.4 million from the bank of new york melon. number one, a name you'll recall from the dark days of 2008, jamen dimon of jpmorgan chase, $28.8 million. you may have seen his names in the headlines. he defended u.s. banks at a meeting of bankers last week and called new global banking rules anti-american. coming up in "the situation room" chris christie set to make

a big speech. will he make any presidential announcement. joining us with a preview is wolf blitzer. wolf, a lot of speculation continuing to swirl for months around chris christie. >> don't hold your breath he's going to run. he almost certainly will not run. he's making it clear to his closest friends and relatives that he doesn't think he's ready to be president of the united states and as you know, when you say you're not ready to be president of the united states, it's going to be hard to walk that back. why would people vote for you if you yourself don't think you're ready to become the commander in chief of the united states of america. so, as much as a lot of republicans would like somebody else to jump in, apparently a lot of them are disappointed that rick perry hasn't lived up to the expectations that were built up for him, others simply don't like mitt romney and some of the other candidates so they were hoping for someone to come in from the outside. chris christie the governor of new jersey, only governor two years, he's almost certainly not going to run. but he is giving a big speech tonight at the reagan library in

california so people will be watching. is it possible that he could emerge as a vice presidential running mate? sure. that's still possible. although probably not likely either because if you're vice president, if you're on the ticket to be the vice president of the united states, the single most important aspect of that race for vice president is you'd be qualified to be president in case of an emergency. he himself says he's not qualified, not ready to be president of the united states, so maybe he's not even going to be a running mate right now. the people of new jersey may be able to enjoy him for a while longer assuming he decides not to run. my gut tells me he's not going to run. >> i want to ask you about this jobs bill. the president is out trying to get people to call congress and push them into passing the jobs bill, but if i'm reading this correctly, both the house, which is republican controlled, and the senate, democrat controlled, aren't in a big hurry to do anything? >> looks like they're going to take some time off in the short term. they're not going to do anything right now. the president has put forward a

package. it's almost certainly not going to get through the republican majority in the house of representatives and harry reid doesn't seem to see any urgency right now to get it on the floor of the united states senate. so i'm not holding my breath. the president's got his position out there. he's going to go out there campaigning for it. the republicans are going to be campaigning for something else, so i don't think that jobs bill is necessarily going to go anywhere. we'll see what super committee can do. >> all right. wolf blitzer, getting ready for his show which starts in about nine minutes from now "the situation room" thanks. and audio recording of an accused killer in the connecticut home invasion reveals chilling new details. you will hear his own words. plus, the michael jackson death trial back under way. that's live from inside the courtroom. we're going to have sunny hostin breaking it down next. she is on the case. ♪ here's where we deliver steady income - month after month. what's it going to be this month, mr. z?

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want to give you a note about this broadcast. brook baldwin moves up an hour

in the cnn lineup, that starts monday. you will get two hours, from 2:00 to 4:00 eastern, 11:00 to 1:00 pacific next week. michael jackson as you've never heard him before. prosecutors played a phone message that michael jackson left for his doctor, dr. conrad murray, just weeks before his death. take a listen. >> sunny hostin is on the case. when i first heard that, i didn't know why the prosecution was playing it. tell me why, tell me your read on that? >> well, i think it was really compelling evidence for the

prosecution and that's why they played it. the prosecution's theory, drew, is that after hearing michael jackson in this stupor, drug induced stupor, conrad murray still ordered additional propofol two days later. as a prosecutor you want your victim in the courtroom, usually you show pictures of a vibrant victim, and juxtapose against them against a picture that isn't as vibrant, perhaps a dead body, perhaps someone with injuries. in this case now you have the very voice of michael jackson in front of this jury in a drug induced state, possibly drug induced by conrad murray. so while many people think wow, that could possibly play into the defense case, i think it's a very strong piece of evidence for this prosecution. >> sunny, we're looking live as that's kenny ortega on the witness stand, the first witness in this case, choreographer for michael jackson. i guess my question was, you know, the drug induced state was

weeks before that the man had actually died. michael jackson was surrounded by people and i just came away thinking, didn't anybody else know this was going on? >> well, you know, that's the magic question. so many people are saying, well, he just seemed okay. i'm sure kenny ortega, as the choreographer of th"this is it"s going to say he showed up, he was on time, he seemed okay. his family members indicated while they thought he had an addiction he was being treated, they thought he was okay. i think that's the theme we will hear throughout. we know addicts act. i think the defense is going to do a good job of playing up that card, playing up the fact that they believe that michael jackson was an addict, that many other people had given michael jackson these drugs and that conrad murray is just the fall guy and that michael jackson's talent just couldn't mask this issue that he had. that's how they started their opening statements, actually. >> we're going to drop in right

now live. this is david walgren, the prosecutor, questioning choreographer kenny ortega, let's listen. >> do you remember under what circumstances you met him? >> yes. michael called me at my home and expressed an interest in working with me. creatively on an upcoming tour. >> which tour was that? >> that was the "dangerous" tour. >> and you took him up on that offer? >> oh, yes, absolutely. >> and what was your role on the "dangerous" tour? >> on the "dangerous"er to i was the co-creator of the show itself with michael and i was the director of the production. >> in addition to the dangerous tour, were there other -- prior to "this is it," were there other tours you were involved with with michael? >> yes. i was also michael's co-creative

partner on history, the history tour, and also a couple other one off concert productions for charity. >> what do you mean one offs? >> not part of his tour, but like a special concerts that were done for charitable reasons. >> okay. >> now -- >> long trial. we're just getting under way. just give me your overall impression of both the opening statements for the prosecution and defense? does this seem like an eveningly matched trial? >> it certainly isn't a slam dunk for the prosecution, although i think they came out swinging. i thought their opening statement was extremely strong. the defense did a good job of muddying the waters and raising the specter of reasonable doubt. at this point going into the case, i think that the prosecution, drew, has the momentum, as they should, because they have the burden

beyond a reasonable doubt. but we will see. i think a very vigorous defense of conrad murray. >> and part of that defense, if i was hearing correctly, was that the possibility that michael jackson may have injected the fatal blow to himself? >> that is right. i mean, we've heard about that before. we heard about it during the preliminary hearing. they sort of came out pretty strong with that theory and that theme in their opening statements. there's no question about it, that we're going to hear some medical experts say that it is possible, maybe not probable, but possible that michael jackson self-medicated interesting was self-medicated and gave himself the fatal dose of propofol. >> we are certainly getting a window into this super star's life, how he operated, how he operated with his doctors and the people around him. it's going to be an interesting trial. expected to last several weeks. sunny, thank you so much for joining us. right now we're going to turn over the cnn newsroom goes to wolf blze